Adjustable side gauge for paper drilling machines



May 15, 1951 J. ADRIAN 2,353,395

ADJUSTABLE SIDE GAUGE FOR PAPER DRILLING MACHINES Filed Nov. 10, 1948 4 sheets -Sheet l INVENTOR.

BY (A, AJ wO/LLJL ATTYS.

May 15, 1951 JPADRIAN ADJUSTABLE-- SIDE GAUGE FOR PAPER DRILLING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 10, 1948 .INVENTOR. M AW BY ATTY'S.

J. ADRIAN ADJUSTABLE SIDE GAUGE FOR PAPER DRILLING MACHINES May 15, 1951' Filed Nov. 10, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I NVENTOR.

.ATTYS.

May 15, 1951 J. ADRlAN 2,553,395

ADJUSTABLE SIDE GAUGE FDR PAPER DRILLING MACHINES Filed Nov. 10, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN V EN TOR.

BY RAW mu TQM ATIYS.

Patented May 15, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE SIDE GAUGE FOR PAPER DRILLING MACHINES Application November 10, 1948, Serial No. 59,260

3 Claims.

This invention relates to paper drilling machines, and more particularly to adjustable side gauges "lerefor.

In the use of a single drill machine ofthe aforesaid class for drilling a series of holesalong one edge portion of a stack of paper sheets that are eventually to be used as pages of loose leaf binders, the stack is placed upon the Work sup porting table of the machine with the rear side of the stack against the usual; back gauge and with an end of the stack against the side gauge, thereby to properly locate the stack. with respect to the drill and space said rear side andend of the former from the latter, preparatory to drilling the first hole of the series. After the hole has been drilled, the side gauge is shifted to a second position for properly locating the stack for the drilling of the second hole, and so on until the series of holes is completed,"a'fter which the side gauge may be returned to itsinitial position in readiness for the drilling of. the next stack of sheets. Stops are employed for'accurately locating the side gauge in its different positions, and these stops are adjustable with respect-to each other according to the desired spacing of the holes. i

In some instances the side gauge is manually moved successively from one stop to the next, until all holes of the series have been bored, In other instances the side gauge is either shifted manually, or is biased by suitable means, such as' a spring, in a direction away from the drill, and is held by the operator, or under the influence of the biasing means, against the consecutive stops; and an escapement mechanism or so-called automatic adjuster is employed that is operated .by a moving part of the machine in step with theprojection and retraction of the drill, for releasing the side gauge from a stop after the corresponding hole has been drilled thereby to alow theside gauge to move or-be moved on to the next stop. In cases where biasing means isemployed, the operator has only to move: the stack of sheets laterally across the table, maintaining the stack in contact with the side gauge at each location at which the side gauge is stopped.

An object of my invention is to provide-an ad-' justable side gauge that isvery simple'--of-con-' struction, and inexpensive o f-- production, lout Which, by meason of its mode of operation; af-

fords substantially the same advantages, so far;

as convenience of use is concerned, as the more complicated and costliertypes of side gaugescharacterized by the escapement mechanisms or,

adjusters above'referred to which render them semi or fully automatic.

A principal distinction of my improved side gauge over prior devices of the same class, is that the side gauge is biased in a direction toward the drill, instead of away from it, and the stops arrest movement'of the side gauge in a reverse direction, rather than in the direction in which the side gauge tends to move.

As a consequence of the foregoing, in the use of a machine equipped with my invention, an operator may grasp a stack of sheets with both hands and place it upon the table of the machine and continuing with both hands so occupied hold the stack firmly against the back gauge and shift it step by step from one drilling position to the next throughout the series without releasing his hold on the stack at any time during the operation and, accordingly, without risking accidental disarrangement of the sheets in the stack. As the stack is shifted laterally across the table in the foregoing operation, the side gauge follows the stack a slight distance beyond each of the successive stops and is then backed against the stop by a momentary reverse movement of the stack.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a self-acting mechanism for retaining the side gauge in fully retracted position until a drilling operation is to be performed, and which mechanism incorporates means arranged to be engaged andxactuated by a stack of sheets properly positioned upon the table of the machine for releasing the side gauge from said mechanism preparatory to proceeding with the drilling operation. v

Another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable side gauge for paper drilling machines wherein means; acting under the influence of gravity, moves the side gauge from one to another of its'successive positions. Another object of the invention is to provide mechanism for.

holding the side gauge in fully retracted position and which mechanism' is retained in effective position by gravity. A further object is to provide latch means on the'side gauge for cooperation with the stops and which latch means is moved to" stop engaging position by gravity. More broadly stated, an object of my invention is toxprovide an adjustable side gauge that is devoid of springs and wherein all working parts are moved to effective position by gravity.

Anotherobject of the invention is to provide an adjustable side gauge incorporating means that tends to move the gauge to its different positions of adjustment, and from which the side gauge may be easilyand quickly disconnected so that said gauge may either be removed from the mathe 11m 2 2 of Fig.1, C

chine, or used for other than its usual purpose,

such manner that said mechanism may be readily attached to and removed from the machine asaunit.

The o oi Objects, with others hereinafter appearing; are attained in the embodiment; of the invention illustrated in th accompanying draw.

embodiment in detail, I wish it to be understood that the invention is not limited to the 'structural features of the disclosed embodiment further than is required by the terms of the claims ap- .p ended-hereto.

jl Tn the drawings, Fig 1 is a fragmentary front '{elevational' view of a ;paper drilling machine esd w hiz r improveda ii stab chine, the planeiofisectionbeing 'indicated by gauge any; i ir t e f q i h i Fig-' 1 ay view of-the parts sh nin'Fig; 3; Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 isa right hand end elevational View of the side gauge and back gauge and parts associated therewith, including a'portion of the machine table; Fig. 7 is aleft hand end elevational view of the parts shownin Fig fi, andFigs. 8 and 9 are sections on th e t ene 8-:8 and; S rof Fi 4.

T n'gn wr Q a}d tai ed:des riptionof the int 'r'by t e-use chre er n ech r cte g z l ke ones "of which; are] applied; to; like, parts through cut th yer l vi wsof the drawin srM de notes, generally, 'a p'ap'e'r drillirig machine; the;

sists of an appropriately shaped casing which; The head:

encloses the head of the machine. carries a drill D that is projected toward the j-acent and parallel to the transverse plane offthe drill D, is a back gauge B; This 'backgau'ge isZ e or: less conventional and comprises elon- ,d"s ectiO ns 1b." and b that are'spaced apart at tantially; the transverse. center of the'gauge e i coilneeted together by a cross bar 'b i (3195' p:

tions of the clamp brackets and, byengagement withthetable, hold the back gauge inTthe desired By this means the back rbeifse'cure d. to the table indifferent "of :nfljustinentiwith' its front'sur fac 1 whichithe r'ear's'ideof'a stacker. sheets."

tionon the .table.

final-retracted therefrom as the head of .is-moy edyvertically ina drilling op-' brackets;b. are: secured to i'andv'depen'd from the endsmf thei'backga'ug'e and'have por tions that underlie/the sides of the table 'I-'.: Thumb screws'b are threaded through said per-- inittd. j

" The parts of my improved adjustable side 15 ing's, and while I shall proceed to describe said is adapted to be engaged) in spaced relation to the transverse plane of the drill D. The distance the front surface of the back gauge is spaced from said plane is indicated by graduated scales 1' that are inlaid in the top surface of the table T, in accordance with common practice; and, for a purposelater to be explained, tlie'parts of the clamp brackets 12 that depend alongside the table T are spaced apart a distance somewhat greater than the width of the table, whereby lateral adjustment of the back gauge is per- 'iielffac ing' toward the rear of th machine, and

secured to the top flange of the section b, by screws I, is a cylindrical guide 2. Applied to {the top; of; the hack gauge s'ectionb, so' as to be clearly visiblein' front oflthe guide 12; is a scale 3, the same being shown as graduated in inches end fractions, thereof A dovetail grooveis 'Eformedin the upper. side'of the guide '2 and is shown as extending the 'full' length thereof, Stops; 75,? having a: cross sectional shape corresponding substantially to that of the dovetail .groove 4,. are containedin the groove and areadjustable lengthwise of the guidei' Each stiop is adapted to be locked'against movement with respect to the guide by a .s'etlscrew 5 which -is' threaded through the 's'top' and engagesthebot tom wall of'the groove '4. These "set screws are: of the well known kind having axial key receiving sockets in their upper ends. The top surface of each stop is gradually inclined upwardly fromwhat I may term the tail of the stop toward the end that constitutes the latch engaging face of the stop; and the stop is of such height that the inclined surface extends from below to above the planeiofz the top of the groove 4.

, jlllfdesignates-the side gauge which, in the pres ent instance} consists of. a castin'g that includes,

as integral parts thereof, an abutmehtfl lagainst which the end of a stack of sheets is adapted to be held during {the drilling-operation; as will hereinaftertmore' fully appear,;ian'-d'- bosses l2 and i3; which have 'guidewa'ys'thatreceivethe'guide Such movement, however, is unessential excepting to insure contact of the lower en ofthe abutment portion l I of the side-gaugeith the' top surface of the -table T; Gtherw bosses" {2 and] 3 arerelieved "along their upper sides g-y channels} l4 to provide clearance 'for the;

Latch rneans 1s Fi's incorporated iii-{ the side gauge Ill for contactwith thefaces of the-stops 5,"an'd"in' the'jp'rese'nt instance it consists of a flat' met'al strip" that'is engaged with the side of the boss l3 remote from the abutment portion ll 'of the gauge, and said strip is pivoted on a headed pin l6 that is locked by 'aset scre wl1 inaboreof the'boss [3. "The e of said metal strip is twisted into aplane at substan V ti'ally' right angles to the remainder of the strip "and-is shaped to provide a" [9;- Ihe iegr more sheets of paper mightslipfbneatli the abut ment portion of the gauge'when ast'a'ck of sheets is engaged therewith Thefiguidways of the greater portion of the strip is rearwardly-of its pivotal axis, thus causing the latchmeans to normally rest by gravity on the guide 2.

A flexible element or cable 25 has one of its ends detachably connected to a part 2'6 of the side gauge I I] and is led therefrom along the rear side of the back gauge B to and about a sheave 21, that is suitably mounted on the back gauge, and thence rearwardly over a sheave 28 and downwardly to Where it has attached to it a weight 36.

It follows from the foregoing that, under the influence of the weight 36, the side gauge 16 moves along the guide '2 toward the drill D. To limit the movement of the side gauge in this direction, a stop may be locked in the groove 4 adjacent the right hand end of the guide 2, in a position reverse to that of the other stops 5, so that the face of the stop 5 will be in a position to be engaged by the latch means l5. Otherwise, said latch means would override said stop 5, as it does those designated 5 when moving under the influence of the weight 36.

Although the side gauge may be held in fully retracted positionthat is to say, beyond the series of stops 5 in a direction away from the drill D*by means of a reversed stop, as that designated 5 I prefer to employ mechanism, which I shall now describe, for releasably holding the side gauge in said retracted position. This mechanism, designated generally by the reference numeral 36, may be applied to and removed from the machine, as a unit. It comprises a crescent shaped fitting 36 that is adapted'to be slipped over the left hand end of the'guide 2 and moved therealong to a location adjacent which it is desired to hold the side gauge l6, pending a machine operation. A thumb screw 31 is threaded through the top of the fitting 36 in line with the groove 4 of the guide 2. When the screw is turned down it bears against the bottom wall of the groove and clamps the fitting 36 to the guide. The hub 38 of a finger 39 occupies a notch 46 in the side of the fitting 36 toward the side gauge and said hub is secured by a set screw 4| to a rock shaft 42 that is journaled in transverse bores of the fitting 36 on opposite sides of said notch4ll'. The shaft 4-2 extends forwardly from the fitting and is turned down to provide an arm 43 to which a weight 44 is fastened. The

distal end of the finger 36or, in other words,

the end remote from the hub 3Bis formed to provide a latch nose 45; and the finger, between said latch nose and hub is of a length slightly greater than that of the boss I2 of the side gauge II]. The weight 44, through the connections described, tends to hold the finger 39 in an approximately horizontal position. Consequently, when the side gauge is shifted to retracted position, its boss 52 will engage and override the latch nose of the finger 39 and upon passing the same will allow the finger, under the influence of the weight 44, to resume normal position and hold the side gauge retracted. It is clear from the drawings that when the finger 39 is in normal or substantially horizontal position it occupies the channel I 4 of the boss l2; and that the groove 4 of the guide 2 provides clearance for the finger when it swings below normal position.

46 is a release member which, in the present instance, is constructed of a length of rod having its ends turned at right angles to its body portion and occupying radial planes substantially 45 apart. One right angular end portion of the rod provides a pintle 41 that is loosely journaled in a bore of the weight 44 so that a striker 48, constituted of the opposite right angular end portion of the rod, is free to bear upon the table I. As best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, when the weight 44 is in normal position, the striker 4B of the release member 46 is an appreciable distance to the right of the plane of the abutment portion ll of the side gauge. At all times said striker is closely adjacent the back gauge.

As an example of work to be performed on the machine, consider a stack of paper sheets, of a standard size of eight and one-half inches by eleven inches, that are to be drilled for use as pages in a three-ring loose leaf binder in which the rings are spaced four and one-fourth inches apart. It will be assumed that the holes that are to be drilled in the paper sheets are to be spaced with their centers three-eighths of an inch from the rear edge of the sheets; and it is evident that, in order to centralize a group of three holes between the ends of the sheets, there will have to be a space of one and one-fourth inches between said ends and the centers of the near holes.

To prepare the machine for the accomplishment of this work, the back gauge is positioned with respect to the scales t" to indicatethat the front surface of the sections b and b are three-eighths of an inch to the rear of the zero points of the scales-which points, by theway, are in transverse alignment with the center of the drill D. The screws b are tightened to hold'the back gauge in this position, and therequired number of stops 5 are adjusted along the guide 2 and locked in spaced relationto each other according to the spacing of the'h'oles that are to be bored in the paper. This maybe accomplished in the following manner: The side gauge i6 is moved along the guide 2 until the outer or right hand face of the boss i3 registers with the one and one-fourth inch graduation on the scales. With the side gauge held in this position, a stop 5 is moved into contact with the latch means l5 and locked in this position by means of its setscrew 6. Theside gauge is then released from said stop by depressing the finger piece IQ of the latch means and the side gauge is moved to the left until the outer face of the boss I3 is in vertical alignment with the five and one-half inch graduation of the scale, and a sec ond stop is moved into contact with the latch means and locked in that position, thus spacing the present stop four and one-fourth inches from the former stop. Another and final stop 5 is similarly spaced from the last mentioned stop and locked in position. Now by releasing the latch means of the side gauge, the latter may be shoved to the left of the stop last described and engaged by the finger of the retaining mechanism 35.

If, after the; stops 5 are secured in properly spaced relation to each other, it is found that the end holes of the series to be drilled in the stack of sheets would not be equally spaced from the opposite ends of the stack, the thumb screws b may be loosened and the back gauge shifted laterally enough to correct the error and then again secured in position by means of said screws.

In using the machine to perform the work described, the operator grasps a stack of sheets near its front corners in his two hands, places, the rear portion of the stack on the machine table T and pushes it rearwardly against the back stop B, after which he shifts the stack to the left along the back gauge until its left hand end is brought into contact with the abutment proportion and relation of the parts of the retaining mechanism 35, the side gauge is permitted to move to the right under the influence of the weight 30 as it follows the manual shifting of the stack of sheets across the table far enough to insure against its being reengaged by the latch nose of the finger 39. The operator now continues to shift the stack to the right until the latch means i of the side gauge overrides the first stop 5 of the series. Just as soon as said latch means passes the stop, the operator reverses the movement of the stack and likewise that of the side gauge to cause the latch means l5 to contact the face of said stop, thereby to accurately locate the stack for the drilling zo'f the first hole. The machine is now operated to drill the firsthole of the series, after which the stack is-moved further to the right, followed by the .side gauge, until the latch means of the side gauge overrides the next stop and is then retracted so as to contact said latch means with the 1 present stop and locate the stack for the drilling .of the second hole of the series. until the three holes are bored, after which the operator, still grasping the stack as at the start,

This continues shifts it beyond the range of movement of the sidegauge allowing the side gauge to coast until its movement is arrested by contact of the latch means with the reverse stop 5*. Now, before removing the stack from the table of the machine, if he so desires, the operator may remove his left hand from the stack and depress the finger piece I9 of the latch means l5 thereby to lift the rear end of said means above the plane of the stops, 5 so :that the side gauge may be shifted to the left to its fully retracted position and reengaged with the finger of the retaining mechanism 35. I Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. Side gauge equipment for paper drilling machines of the kind including a work supporting table, and a drill arranged in perpendicular relation to the table and movable relatively toward and from the same; said equipment comprising a guide disposed transversely of the table substantially parallel to and adjacent a transverse plane coincident with the axis of the drill, a side gauge movable along the guide and including an abutment against which the work is adapted to be engaged, means biasing said gauge toward the drill, a seriesof stopsspaced apart along the guide, holding means incorporated in the side gauge for fcooperation with the stops, said holding means and'stopsbeing so" shaped and constructed that the holding means overrides the stops when the side gauge is moved toward the drill and abuts the stops and thereby arrests movement of the side gauge when the latter is moved away from the drill, retaining means adjacent the guide beyond that end of the series of stops remote from the drill for cooperation with a part of the side gaugefor holding said gauge in retracted position, and a release member for actuating said retaining means jto'disengage it from the side gauge, said release member having a striker bearing upon the table of the machine and spaced a less distance from the drill than the abutment of the side gauge when the side gauge is in retracted position.

2. Side gauge equipment for paper" drilling machines as defined by claim 1, whereinsaid retaining means consists. of a fitting in thefform of a clamp ,for attachment to the guide, a rock shaft journaled in thefitting and disposed transversely of the guide, a latch finger carried by said shaft for holding engagement witha part of the side gauge, a weight operativelyconnected to the shaft and tending to rock the shaftin a direction to swing said fingerto gauge-holding position, and a release member operatively'connected to the shaft. for moving it in opposition to said Weight, the release member having a striker hear-- ing upon the table of the machine and spaced a less distance from the drill than the abutment of the side gauge when the side gauge is in retracted position. 1 l 1 3. Side gauge equipment for paper drilling machines as defined by claim 2, wherein an arm depends from the rock shaft forwardly of the guide, and said weight is carried by said arm and tends to rock the shaft in a direction-to swing said finger to gauge-holding position, and the release member is elongated and has one of its ends shaped to provide the striker and its opposite end pivotally connected to the weight.

JOSEPH ADRIAN.

REFERENCES CITED l The fOHOWiIIg references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date 

